Calgary’s sports community was rocked Thursday after learning Bill Powers — the man many Calgarians knew as the voice of the Stampeders — and his wife were found dead in their southwest home by police.

Powers, a veteran broadcaster and sports columnist, and his wife, Donna Lee, were discovered by investigators who were led to the scene by a man now considered a suspect in the deaths.

Sources tell the Herald the man, who has not been named, is Bill Powers’ stepson.

"The world is a little emptier now," said News Talk 770’s John Vos, a former colleague and friend. "He really knew sports, lived it and loved it."

Police said they were first alerted early Thursday by a witness, who asked officers to check on a man near Southland Drive and 14th Street S.W.

When police located the man, they spoke with him, and he led them to Powers’ nearby Braeside residence, a tidy blue and white bungalow.

The man was arrested without incident and police said they weren’t looking for anyone else in connection with the case.

No charges had been laid at press time.

Police have not officially identified the two people found deceased in the home in the 1700 block of 110th Avenue S.W. But sources identified the pair as Bill and Donna Lee Powers.

A small knife was seized from a front lawn near the scene, but it’s not known if it is connected to the case.

The homicide unit continues to investigate. Autopsies are scheduled for today.

For decades, Billy Powers was a staple of Calgary’s sports community.

Born in Edmonton in 1941, Powers got his start in journalism as a general reporter with the Edmonton Journal.

He later moved to Calgary and joined The Albertan, predecessor to the Calgary Sun. He ended up in sports after editors offered him a free week off in exchange for covering the 1965 Canadian Figure Skating Championships.

From then on, sports was his passion.

In 1968, he found his way into radio as a sportscaster. Later, he became sports director at CKXL and then QR 77.

From 1991 to 2009, he worked on Calgary Stampeders broadcasts and was known as the voice of the Stamps.

"It is with great sadness that the Stamps learn of the tragic deaths of longtime Calgary broadcaster Billy Powers and his wife Donna Lee," the Stampeders said in a statement Thursday.

Powers, who also wrote sports columns for the Herald and the Calgary Sun, developed a reputation as a great storyteller who could give and take a joke.

Whenever Powers entered a room, people would gather around waiting for him to regale them with a joke or a story about what was going on in the world of sports, said Vos, who worked with him for two decades.

Recently, Powers had been writing a popular column in the Cochrane Eagle, where his longtime friend Jack Tennant is publisher.

Tennant said Powers led a simple life that included regular social calls to places like Inglewood eatery Spolumbo’s.

In his private life, Powers was a grandfather, had two children and three stepchildren.

Friends and neighbours remembered him and Donna Lee as a friendly, sociable couple.

When Powers wrote for the Herald, between 1997 and 1999, his wife featured prominently in his columns. Their fishing trips, forgotten anniversaries, birthday celebrations, even health scares ended up in the pages of the newspaper.

Powers once recalled the first time he met Donna Lee at a Calgary Flames golf tournament, where he was tasked with running the beer cart.

"It was my job I thought until I got to the course and this beautiful blond from Edmonton was already in control," he wrote.

"We eventually decided to work together, and five months later the beer cart pair were married."

The pair married in 1989.

Judy Shapiro, who worked with Donna Lee at the Calgary Jewish Federation, said the two last spoke on Wednesday night.

Shapiro called her friend a wonderful person who will be deeply missed.

"She’s a person who knew how to laugh and had a lot of compassion. She’s got a lot of friends here and a lot of people loved her a lot."

Donna Lee worked as office manager at the organization for eight years, but the title didn’t come close to describing her importance."She impacted everyone in this agency in a very positive way," said Drew Staffenberg. the federation’s executive director.

Friends say Billy and Donna Lee will be terribly missed and fondly remembered.

When Powers himself was asked in a Herald interview published in 1984 what he wanted his epitaph to say, he responded: "Something like: ‘Here lies Billy, a friend to the end.’"

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